A man who strangled an elderly man and fatally stabbed his common-law wife has been sentenced to life imprisonment for the double murder.

He is Garland Marriott, 39, electrician, of Boon Hall, St Andrew.

Justice Lloyd Hilbert, in passing sentence, ordered that Marriott must serve 25 years before he is eligible for parole. He was sentenced to life imprisonment on both counts.

He was found guilty last month of the double murder, and sentencing was put off until last week Friday in the Home Circuit Court.

A jury found Marriott guilty of the murders of 79-year-old farmer Almando Warren and his common-law wife, 47-year-old Clover Robinson of Fyffes Pen, St Elizabeth.

Prosecutors, Lisa Palmer and Natalie Ebanks, led evidence that Marriott murdered the couple between June 14, 2003 and June 15, 2003 at their home in Fyffes Pen.

Warren was strangled with a length of electric cord, which was wrapped seve-ral times around the neck, while Robinson was stabbed several times.

Blood matching the DNA profile of the accused, Marriott, was found at the murder scene.

Marriott said in his defence that he was em-ployed to do electrical work at the couple's home in April 2003.

He said he left Fyffes Pen in late April 2003 and came to Kingston.

He said he did not return to the area until the police took him there in June 2004.